Pain (dukkha)
Pain (dukkha)
6. “When there is a lot of pain in the body, it is difficult to maintain “right effort,” yet sometimes through patient endurance the pain lessens or dissipates. Could you speak about right effort and the connection between right effort and samadhi?” [Pain] [Right Effort] [Patience] [Concentration] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Fear] [Aversion] [Discernment] [Naturalness]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned from pain and illness in his early monastic life. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pain] [Sickness] [Monastic life]
5. “I notice that when my mind is drifting I don't feel physical pain but when 'present' pain comes to the fore. Suggestions?” [Pain]
12. “Can you please speak about dealing with physical pain during a sit (particularly back pain and headaches)?” [Pain] [Posture/Sitting]
2. “Do you have any advice for working with pain?” [Pain] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Investigation of states] [Meditation/Techniques] [Direct experience]
5. “When is it useful to determine to stick with a single practice, even when it doesn't seem to work, instead of exploring other options?” [Meditation/General advice] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Pain] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Mindfulness of mind] [Discernment] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]
3. “If you keep chipping away at a theme of contemplation, you keep doing it, doing it, and nothing is changing in your experience, at some stage you feel this isn't working, do you just have to move on and try something else? Is it the case that you just have to try them all? No-one can tell you which is going to work for you?” [Depression] [Recollection] // [Patience] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Ajahn Wanchai has a spinal injury and is in chronic pain but doesn't refer to himself. Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Wanchai] [Suffering] [Sickness] [Pain] [Conceit]
3. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: When working with the mind in a comfortable environment, one can skip past and the fear of death. [Mindfulness of mind] [Pain] [Fear] [Death]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
9. “Sometimes I've been sitting a long time and am too tired to keep sitting, walk, or stand. Any suggestions?” [Postures] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sloth and torpor] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pain] [Posture/Standing]
9. “Can one contemplate pain using the four elements or is here a more direct way to penetrate physical pain? Many thanks for your teachings.” [Pain] [Elements]
4. “Is pain an obstacle to reaching right concentration?” [Pain] [Right Concentration] // [Happiness] [Postures] [Direct experience]
Quote: “What's really painful about pain is the way we hate it.” [Pain] [Aversion]
3. “How do you practice with painful feeling?” [Pain] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Suffering] // [Emotion] [Blame and praise] [Happiness] [Proliferation]
Sutta: SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta, The Arrow.
1. “Could you explain the simile of the embers in regards to sensuality?” [Similes] [Pain] [Sensual desire] // [Concentration] [Liberation]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure. [Suffering]
1. “What do you do when things like knee pain arise?” [Meditation/General advice] [Pain] [Aversion] [Hindrances] // [Compassion]
5. “Could you share some suggestions and advice for using the breath-body as an object of meditation? This seems like a skillful way of meditating when the gross physical body is experiencing a lot of pain. Is there any drawback to that?” [Mindfulness of breathing] [Pain]
7. “Persistent physical pain. Not chronic, just from sitting. How do I work skillfully with it? Right now the meditations feel swamped with it?” [Pain] [Meditation/General advice]
9. “Do monks on retreat feel as much pain as we do? Is pain sankharas?” [Pain] [Volitional formations]
4. “It seems I have returned to remedial meditation practice. I can’t seem to find ease in my body, let alone my breath. It feels like I’m stuck in physical pain - an invisible barrier I can’t seem to penetrate. Acceptance and loving kindness are being applied, but without much movement. I am trying to develop concentration on breath - so far no piti or sukha. What to do?” [Meditation/General advice] [Pain] [Goodwill] [Mindfulness of breathing]
10. “Would you please talk a little bit about determination versus compassion in meditation? For example, as long sittings can cause pain and legs to go numb, when is it good to use determination to power through? And when is it good to have compassion for the body and also not cause damage to the body, so that it can be healthy for long-term practice?” [Determination] [Compassion] [Pain]
11. “Can you speak more about vedana and whether it is something to be changed, as in from dukkha to sukha?” [Feeling] [Pain] [Happiness]
9. “How can you use chanting to work with long-term physical pain and other people's healing?” [Pain] [Health] [Chanting] // [Tranquility] [Concentration] [Fear] [Release]
6. “How do you handle physical sensations like an itch during meditation?” [Meditation/General advice] [Contact] // [Mindfulness] [Patience] [Pain]
1. “In Canada, medical assistance in death is legal. As an old person who will be sick and dying not too far off, it raises the question: If I got to the point where I felt even with good palliative and hospice care, I couldn't withstand the pain any longer, it's an option. But what about the first precept of not taking life?” [Sickness] [Pain] [Health care] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Idealism]
Quote: “Being present for the falling apart of the body opens doorways to release that don't really happen with, 'I just want to be done with this. This totally sucks.'” [Present moment awareness] [Death] [Mindfulness of body] [Release] [Aversion] [Fear] [Clinging] [Saṃsāra]
2. “For some people, death comes with extreme pain. Part of being able to navigate through the dissolution of self requires clarity of mind. My understanding is that a lot of pain management involves morphine or other mind-numbing drugs. How does one navigate the pain?” [Death] [Pain] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Clear comprehension] [Health care] [Intoxicants] // [Fear]
13. “I live with my 96-year old mother. Her mind is quite good, but her body is ageing and there is pain in both legs. She has a stubborn will to carry on. We have our fights, but get through them quickly. I'm wanting to go to another level to develop patience. Can you comment?” [Ageing] [Family] [Pain] [Patience] // [Empathetic joy] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Gratitude] [Idealism]
Quote: “Even monks have mothers.”
5. “In your guided meditation you mentioned noticing, 'This is bearable.' When is it skillful to bear with and when it is skillful to put effort towards change, whether in action or in the mind?” [Patience] [Equanimity] [Right Effort] // [Discernment] [Pain] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Happiness] [Clear comprehension]
5. “Could you speak more about how to prevent feelings from becoming aversion or desire? How does this relate to Dependent Origination?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Feeling] [Aversion] [Craving] [Dependent origination] // [Arahant] [Buddha] [Pain] [Mindfulness] [Birth] [Impermanence] [Happiness] [Direct experience] [Proliferation] [Master Hsuan Hua]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno breaks his pelvis in Thailand. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pain]